How to Make Pumpkins from Recycled Books

Once September rolls around, I am all about decorating for Halloween. I saw a similar recycled book pumpkin project on Pinterest and couldn’t wait to try it.The hardest part of the project for me was selecting which book to use. ‘Defacing’ a book is downright sinful; however, I decided an old Fodor travel book on the Caribbean was expendable. If I return to the islands, I’ll buy a more up-to-date issue.

Step One
Draw a pumpkin shaped template on a piece of paper. Fold it in half and trim it up so that the sides are symmetrical. (Don’t over think this step. I drew mine free-handed.) Make sure the template isn’t larger than the book you will be using. (The template is almost heart-shaped, but the bottom is flat…)

make sure your template isn’t bigger than your book

Step Two
Tear the front and back covers from the book. Fold the template in half and place the template on the first page of the book. Trace the template (half pumpkin) onto the first page with a pencil.

Step Three
Cut through the pages—about ten pages at a time depending on how sharp your scissors are. Tear the cut pages away from the spine of the book as you go and repeat with another group of pages.

Step Four
Continue cutting pages until the entire book is cut into the shape of a pumpkin. Trim any jagged edges, but don’t worry about making it perfect. This is a recycled book pumpkin… Besides, when have you ever seen a perfect real pumpkin?

Step FiveNear the spine of your pumpkin-shaped book, glue the first and last pages together with hot glue. This will help open the book into a round shape. Set your pumpkin upright and begin ‘fluffing’ the pages—moving and opening the pages around. Some pages may be stuck together. Play around with it until the pages are separated and the pumpkin is full and fat.

Step Six

Now comes the most fun part—decorating! I lightly sprayed my pumpkin with flat black spray paint. Just a mist added a bit of color. (The book I used had a few bright orange pages between chapters which automatically added a hint of orange to my pumpkin. I didn’t plan this, but it worked out well.)

Step Seven

Hot glue a piece of tree branch to the top for the stem. I added ribbon, a vintage black button and a vine from my garden for whimsy.

I love the way my recycled book pumpkin turned out. What do you think?

Wanna receive my monthly Newsletter? Sign up here!

Comments

Love, love, love! It looks SO cute. I’m the same way-once it gets to be September I’m all about fall and pumpkins. I’d love to share your project with my Month of Pumpkin series that begins in October 🙂

What a cute decoration for fall! I can’t wait until fall so I can watch the leaves turn colors.Thanks so much for linking this up to Frugal Crafty Home! I’m glad you found several inspiring ideas to pin! Our next hop goes live tomorrow at 8pm central time & we’d love to have you back!

Oh, I love your adorable book pumpkin and your fabulous blog! Thank you so much for sharing with us at A Bouquet of Talent. I will be featuring your pumpkin to day at Pick of the Bunch! New follower, too! Can’t wait to check out more of your blog!

When I was little, about 50 years ago, my mom did this to make angels for Christmas. She used old Sears catalogs, old Kansas City phone books, and old Readers’ Digest magazine, just to give ideas. I have old paperbacks that I inherited cheap at an auction, and threw away because they were “westerns”, but now wish I’d kept. Any largish book that arrives annually, such as a writers’ guide, might do just fine.I love these, though! Is there any way it could be quicker, like if we cut through the whole book at once with a really good knife? Just thinking…Thanks for the ideas! 🙂

Oh I love the idea of angels! I do think you could make this quicker with a sharp knife. I had a dull pair of scissors – LOL. I will say the second book I made took very little time at all because I knew what I was doing:)) Also, the Fodor’s book I used had something like 700 pages. I made both pumpkins out of the one book. When I thought I had cut enough for the first pumpkin, I ripped off the rest of the book and saved it for the second pumpkin.

Oh I love the idea of angels! I do think you could make this quicker with a sharp knife. I had a dull pair of scissors – LOL. I will say the second book I made took very little time at all because I knew what I was doing:)) Also, the Fodor’s book I used had something like 700 pages. I made both pumpkins out of the one book. When I thought I had cut enough for the first pumpkin, I ripped off the rest of the book and saved it for the second pumpkin.

We made Christmas trees out of two old Readers’ Digest. No cutting involved. Just fold the pages, taking the top outside corner & pulling it to the spine of the book ( like a really big “dogear”) firmly crease the fold. Continue using the entire book (using the covers) Paper clip the books together at the top & bottom. Spray with the color of your choice (we used green). While the paint is still wet sprinkle with glitter. to better secure the glitter you can spray with a light coat of clear coat. Finish it off with the decorations of your choosing, or top it off with an angel or star & call it a day!

I was reading the other day about someone who saves real pumpkin stems to use in a similar project. She goes around and ask farmers if she can have them from unsold pumpkins. Thought that was a neat idea:)

Talya Tate Boerner

Hi! I'm Talya. Thanks for visiting Grace Grits and Gardening where I share stories of food, farm, family and fun. After thirty years in Texas, I recently returned to my home state of Arkansas. I live and blog in Fayetteville, try to do something creative every day, and believe most any dish can be enhanced with a side of collards. My debut novel, The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee, is available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and through local Indie bookstores.